Diane privately emailed me to inform my site has been invaded by a merry prankster/hacker. All my capital Vs have been reduced to lower case whenever vA is used. Relax Diane. I did it. If vA insists on treating us as untermenchen, then we will consider them anti-Veteran and address them appropriately.

The title above concerns the Independent Living Program. I called Kris, my parole officer claims supervisor for ILP several weeks ago. He got back to me on Friday. Apparently his supervisor, the Grand Poohbah of all things VR&E in the Pacific Northwest,  has had my NOD sitting on his desk for over a fortnight or more and hasn’t even looked at it yet. Kris tells me he is a Very Busy Man and Very High Up. He feels that there will be some resolution to it soon and refused to commit on whether Mr.  Goodbar might approve or deny it. He did his special:

” Well, You know, Mr. Nod, we’re in uncharted territory here. VA is not in the habit of handing out computers. Too many Vets in the past have, you know, well, used them to view, heh, pornography and vA certainly isn’t going to facilitate that. While we feel your case is different, there’s no precedent for this that we can cite to. Independent Living is, well, independence in daily living which means you could take the bus down to the local library and use their- excuse me? no bus and library? Well, rural living has it rewards, too. Have you considered taking up birding? vA could put in a nice bird feeder and you can watch “bird TV” I hear it’s very soothing.”

I look forward to this battle. The VA has chosen to fieldstrip the ILP and remove all but cordless phones and grab bars from the remunerations program. I know you guys are looking at this and saying “Hell, thet Nod dude is trying to smoke them fellers down at the vARO.  Computer? Shoot. Rots a ruck!”

Well, think about it. This battle is for the lapidary guy who need a new rock polisher. Face it. $36,ooo.00 a year for serving your country and getting dinged up badly? Give the guy a pastime. What’s a rock polisher go for? $350.00?  This battle is for a guy with PTSD who never leaves home due to agoraphobia. Let’s say he wants some photo gear for $1000.00. So what? vA throws millions at a study to see if homeless Vets have clean socks and underwear in winter months. They give them cel phones in D.C. so they can call 911 or St. Elizibeth’s if they OD.

In short, what is a computer for spewing out this  HCV drivel worth? Helping Vets is a noble endeavour just as much as giving a 20% SC Vet an open-ended grant for $16K to finish his/her degree in acupuncture or a Poly Sci  goatskin.

A veteran that is 100% P&T qualifies for this and Congress specifically funded it and provided for it in 1982. Vets who are never going to be part of the workforce again still deserve more than lip service in 2012. The problem as they see it is simple. We are no longer productive therefore we cannot be “rehabilitated”. Better any monies spent are diverted to the potentially productive Vet. Nevertheless, they still go through the pretend motions as if this older version of ILP is viable. The dude comes out to the house and surveys it. He makes sure you can get into and out of the shower and are not in need of A&A. They search the bathrooms for ADA grab bars and take notes. They thank you profusely for applying and you never hear from them again. Finally after several months and some prodding, they send you the Dear John letter and allow as there is little they can do to make you more “independent” as it appears you already are. I mean- come on. You’re not living in a group home. Right? That’s pretty friggin’ independent in their book. This is generally followed by what I could best characterize as the Jed Clampett sendoff- “Y’all come back now, hear?”

It’s usually up to the savvy Vet to obtain a 4138 and file his own NOD. The VR&E guys don’t get into that whole claims thingie. They all have degrees and titles indicating a Human Resources background with a Rodney King minor in “Can’t we all just get along?”  This is where I find myself. Now, it could be that they are stymied because my C-file currently resides in D.C. They cannot legally shoot down my NOD without reviewing my file. That’s what those VA examiners do. That would leave it in limbo until the file comes back some time in the future. I can’t wait for electronic files. It would allow them to be viewed by multiple parties-including the guys who hack into the system.  If they can screw up the paper ones this well, you can imagine what the future holds.  Onwards through the fog. Vote for Hungry Chuck.